Is America improving?

It has been almost four years since COVID-19 impacted us. In the United States, the pandemic has killed more than one million people and left millions more facing persistent health problems. Most normal life came to a halt, partly due to the official lockdown, but mainly due to the fear of becoming infected as people stayed at home.

The big question in later years was whether usa will reach recover completely from that effect, The answer came in 2023: Yes. In fact, Our society and our economy have recovered incredibly well., The big question is when, if at all, will the population be ready to accept this good news.

Of course, in the short term, the pandemic had serious economic and social impacts, in many ways that were broader and deeper than almost everyone expected. Employment fell by 25 million in a matter of weeks. Extensive government aid eased economic hardship for families, but preserving Americans’ purchasing power in the face of a disrupted economy meant that demand often exceeded supply, and as a result, supply chains were overwhelmed and inflation soared. .

Additionally, the pandemic limited social interactions and left many people feeling isolated. Psychological harm is difficult to measure, but the decline in social relationships has contributed to many negative trends, including an increase in violent crime.

It was not difficult to imagine that the pandemic experience would leave long-term scars, that prolonged COVID and early retirements would lead to permanent workforce reductions, that low inflation would mean high unemployment for many years, that Crime will continue to increase, posing a threat to public peace.

But nothing like this happened.

You may have heard good news in financial matters. In fact, labor participation -The percentage of adults in the current workforce—slightly higher than the Congressional Budget Office forecast before the pandemic. indicators of underlying inflation Despite the fact that they are more or less back at the Federal Reserve’s two percent target Unemployment is at the lowest level not seen in 50 years, Adjusting for inflation, most workers’ wages have increased.

For some reason, I don’t listen to crime news as much, but that’s pretty good too. FBI data shows this Violent crimes have decreased: They are back to 2019 levels and appear to continue their decline. Murders may not have returned to 2019 levels, but the numbers are declining.

None of this erases the deaths caused by COVID or the troubling learning loss affecting millions of students. But in general, both Our economy and our society are now in a better place than most people expect. From people in the early days of the pandemic or what most Americans are willing to accept.

Because if the resilience of the United States in the face of the impact of the pandemic has been excellent, the pessimism of the population has also been excellent.

By now, anyone writing about the economic situation has become accustomed to emails and social media posts (which almost always start with, “Hey, idiot”). They insist that official statistics regarding low unemployment and inflation are misleading, one should not tell blatant lies. No, the Consumer Price Index does not ignore food and energy, although some analytical indicators do; No, grocery prices are not continuously increasing.

Rather than engage in further debate with people desperate to find some justification for negative economic opinions, I find it more useful to point out that no matter what American consumers say about the state of the economy, they are spending like As his financial condition was very bad. Solid. in recent times, Looks like Christmas season sales were pretty good.,

And regarding crime? This is an issue in which, for a long time, the population’s perceptions have been in marked contrast to reality, with people telling pollsters that crime is rising even though it is falling rapidly. According to Gallup, right now, 63 percent of Americans say crime is an “extremely” or “very” serious problem for the United States, but only 17 percent say it is a very serious problem where they live.

Also, Americans don’t behave like they’re afraid of crime. As I’ve written before, in major city centers, weekend foot traffic – broadly speaking, the number of people coming into the city for leisure rather than work – has returned to pre-pandemic levels, which is not expected. If Americans were fleeing a violent urban hell.

So, no matter what Americans tell pollsters, They behave as if they live in a prosperous and fairly safe country. (according to historical levels), the country is represented by official statistics, though not opinion polls. (Clarification: Yes, it’s great Inequality and social injusticeBut now it is no worse than in previous years when Americans were much more optimistic).

Of course, the bigger question is whether the dark narrative will prevail over the relatively bright reality in the 2024 elections. According to polling data, there are signs that good economic news is starting to come, but I am not aware of any equivalent signal. Regarding crime.

In any case, what we need to know is that the United States responded very well to the economic and social challenges of the deadly pandemic. By most indicators, we are a country on the road to recovery. we hope that Don’t lose your democracy before people realize it,

New York Times 2024